With the entertainment world currently in an uproar about #OscarsSoWhite and the fact that there aren’t any black nominees in the major Academy Award categories, former Clueless star Stacey Dash is taking the debate into a whole new arena.
Dash, 49, who was born in New York City and is of African-American descent, called for the elimination of Black History Month and BET Channel.
“We have to make up our minds,” the actress-turned-pundit said on Wednesday’s Fox & Friends. “Either we want to have segregation or integration. And if we don’t want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the Image Awards where you’re only awarded if you’re black.”
READ MORE: Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith boycotting this year’s Oscars ceremony
(For the record, many white musicians, including Robin Thicke, Justin Bieber and Justin Timberlake, have won BET Awards.)
“If it were the other way around, we would be up in arms. It’s a double standard,” she continued.
Dash didn’t back down from her position, posting this to Twitter:
When Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy asked her to reiterate her position on the BET Channel, she calmly stated her opinion again.
“No, I don’t think so, no,” said Dash. “Just like there shouldn’t be a Black History Month. You know? We’re Americans. Period. That’s it.”
BET responded with this tweet on Wednesday afternoon:
https://twitter.com/BET/status/689910485060288513/photo/1
READ MORE: #OscarsSoWhite: 2016 Oscars nominees are almost all white, again
This isn’t the first time Dash has made controversial comments. She famously referenced Martin Luther King when she endorsed Mitt Romney over Barack Obama for president in 2012, and a year before that, tweeted her support of Paula Deen, who was involved in a scandal involving her use of the N-word.
Director Spike Lee and actor Jada Pinkett Smith have made it abundantly clear that they will not be attending this year’s Oscars ceremony in protest. On Wednesday, social media was calling on planned host Chris Rock to step down. The ceremony takes place on Feb. 28.
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